News

A talk with Martin Quigley: Landscape Architect, Director of Gardens and Grounds at UCSC Arboretum. "Martin Quigley, Director of Gardens and Grounds at the sprawling UCSC Arboretum is a man with a mission. " (from Good Times)

The UCSC Arts Division produced a video showcasing the Future Gardens of the Central Coast of California exhibit. It highlights the impact the Arboretum has had in giving the art piece a public place and botanical knowledge it needed.

The opening reception for the Harrison's Future Garden for the Central Coast of California will take place on May 19, 2018, from 4-6 pm at the Arboretum and Botanic Garden. The reception is free and open to the public.

On April 7, FOREST (for a thousand years…), an extraordinary 28-minute audio experience by renowned Canadian artists, will play throughout the day within the Arboretum’s redwood grove. Which sounds are real and which are recorded? To find out, you’ll have to participate in this unique event!.

It’s long been known male hummingbirds court females with a “song” produced by manipulating their tale feathers during a high-speed dive. A new study finds one species can strategically control the sound made by this high speed dive— the doppler effect!

Hundreds of amazing, gorgeous succulent plants at the Arboretum have been given new homes and new life! The Succulent Garden, the nursery, the greenhouses, and the Horticulture Offices patio area have all been upgraded, and other improvements are in the works.

A free public opening of FOREST (for a thousand years...) will take place on April 7, with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Arboretum, featuring remarks from the artists. The exhibition will then be open to the public every day until June 30, from 10-5 p.m. Admission to FOREST is included in a visit to the Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

Got ants? The UCSC Storm Water Management Program offers “do’s/don'ts” for these pesky insects! And, if the tips aren’t successful, you can contact staff to get advice on pesticides and environmental health issues.

View images from a camera inside the fenced area of the Arboretum that illustrate that while deer are kept out, other nocturnal creatures of the Arboretum are allowed to enter. (updated October 9, 2017)

In 2018, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS) launches a major site-specific environmental art installation by Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

When blooms start to burst forth in the Arboretum gardens, it’s the perfect time to meander the paths. You can choose among three paved trails—The Hummingbird, Australian Plants Uses, and World Tour Trails—as well as many unpaved pathways.

Bruce Lyon and his students have been studying Golden-crowned Sparrows in the UCSC Arboretum for the past fourteen years. They have learned a great deal about the social lives of these migratory songbirds.

A unique educational event offered at the UCSC Arboretum is the Ray Collett Rare and Extraordinary Plant Lecture Series. Topics include an eclectic range of fascinating facts and theories, as examples, the overview “Relentless Evolution: Of Plants and Their Partners” and the focused “Jewels of the Garden: A Darwinian Natural History of Hummingbirds.”

The Art in the Arboretum program promotes the arts and enriches connections between the Arboretum, UCSC, and the Santa Cruz community. The Opening Reception for Art in the Arboretum: Environmental Installations is Saturday, May 20, 3-6 pm. For this third exhibition, eleven unique sculptures have been installed to highlight and complement the South African and New Zealand gardens.